On Nov 24, 2023 – Our small soft-bodied crawling robot with electromagnetic legs and passive body adaptation inspection robot, called ‘SLOT’ was published in IEEE Spectrum on Video Friday: Punch-Out. The robot, driven by neural central pattern generator (CPG)-based control, can successfully crawl on a variety of metal terrains, including a flat surface, step, slope, confined space, and an inner (concave surface) and outer (convex surface) pipe in both horizontal and vertical directions. It can be also steered to navigate through a cluttered environment with obstacles. This small soft robot has the potential to be employed as a robotic system for inner and outer pipe inspection and confined space exploration in the oil and gas industry.
Credit : Video Friday: Punch-Out – IEEE Spectrum